Ottawa Valley Scholarship (OSOTF)

Award Overview

Value of the award:
Variable
Number of awards:
Variable
If recipient is registered as a full-time student - Receives one at full value. If recipient is registered as a part-time or special student - The amount is variable.
Award frequency:
Annual
Level or program of study:
Undergraduate and graduate
Application Type:
Online Scholarship and Bursaries portal, accessible via uoZone.
Application Deadline:
November 3
Renewable:
No

Purpose of this Award

To provide financial assistance to Indigenous female students who demonstrate a financial need.

Eligibility Criteria

The candidate must:

  1. be a woman and a Canadian citizen
  2. be registered as a full-time, part-time or special student at the University of Ottawa
  3. be an Ontario resident as per OSAP rules
  4. demonstrate financial need, as determined by the Financial Aid and Awards Service of the University of Ottawa
  5. provide documented proof of Indigenous identity, in accordance with the requirements of the University of Ottawa Eligibility for Focused Admissions, Scholarships, and Bursaries for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis People administrative procedure
  6. demonstrate sound and satisfying academic performance

How to Apply

Submitted in the Online Scholarship and Bursaries portal, accessible via uoZone, and must include:

  1. the Financial Questionnaire
  2. documented proof of Indigenous identity, in accordance with the requirements of the University of Ottawa Eligibility for Focused Admissions, Scholarships, and Bursaries for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis People administrative procedure.

About this Award

Around the year 2000, through the lives of my father's brother and my mother's sister I received a substantial amount of money. I grew up on a farm in southern Ontario, on land that was once hunted on by the Six Nations. Much of the land in the township is still responsibly and caringly cultivated by my relatives, descendants of hardworking Scotch families who purchased title to it in the 1830's. However, as one of the ones who moved away, to study and work in another language, I can see that Canadians from all backgrounds, while finding ways to respect the environment and be in touch with the outdoors, are increasingly called to earn a living and make a contribution in settings that are less directly connected to the land: in town and in the inner city.

One characteristic of my own Scotch ethnic background is knowing how to live light, which means I have more to give away. The choice of where to put the money to use was made in response to the question, "Where is the need the greatest?". I had long wanted to find a way to work with aboriginal persons. As a weekly volunteer chaplaincy visitor with women inmates at Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, over the year I have enjoyed the company of a number of Mohawk women whose circumstances were not easy. And I have long been a feminist, so empowerment for aboriginal women was a clear and satisfying response to my question. 

Another characteristic of the Scotch is respect for education, and it is through education that I feel the challenge of being actively connected to oneself, one's fellow beings, one's country and indeed to all of creation and the creator as well, while not necessarily living on the land, can most positively be met. While there is grieving to be done for subsistence societies that no longer exist as they once did, I feel there is also learning to be done: learning to see problems from new perspectives, learning to imagine creative solutions, and learning the skills to make a difference. 

Interestingly, neither my uncle, my aunt nor I have had children. Often, I think, persons whose lifestyles are atypical find ways of expressing generativity in their lives. Following the example of my aunt's and uncle's generosity and involvement, I enjoy making this gift.